Land west of Old Town Temecula eyed for master planned community

TEMECULA  San Diego-based developer Ambient Communities is working to transform 200 acres west of Old Town Temecula into a community that will feature homes, condominiums, apartment buildings, parks, public trails and a civic component, which could end up being a college campus or a hospital.

Because of the size of the project, which is being called “Village West” right now, it will take more than a year to complete the environmental documentation that will be required before the project can be considered by the Planning Commission and City Council.

But the wheels are turning and Ambient plans to submit pre-application renderings and plans to the city in the next 30 days, said Rob Honer, a company principal.

Those pre-applications will be followed by formal applications that will allow the public to scope out the plans and take in the full view of Ambient’s vision, which includes a “high-tech” elementary school that company officials hope will serve as a magnet for families.

The sale of the land to Ambient by the Firestone family, John and Juanita of Newport Beach, was announced Thursday by Lee & Associates, the firm that handled the transaction.

It is one of the largest deals in Riverside County history and, by far, the largest in the history of Temecula, according to the firm.

Temecula Mayor Mike Naggar said Thursday afternoon that the property has a lot of challenges but also a lot of potential.

"I'm hoping they can rise to the occasion," he said.

In 2010, the city and the Firestone family were discussing a deal that would have involved the Firestones giving land to the city for the construction of a hospital and a university in exchange for the city covering the costs of environmental documentation associated with a large housing development.

The project was dubbed University Hills, and city officials were optimistic a deal was within reach.

The negotiations, however, hit a snag when the city never heard back from Loma Linda University Medical Center, which was mulling building a hospital in Temecula to complement its new facility in Murrieta.

Naggar said the city still intends to push for a university and a hospital, if Kaiser Permanente doesn't end up building one on another site.

"Setting aside land for a university or a hospital is a priority for the city," he said.

Honer said Friday there is acreage on the southern end of the property that is being set aside for some sort of civic use — such as a hospital, college campus or facility housing multiple satellite campuses — but the details haven’t been firmed up yet.

The entire Firestone property was 270 acres.

Last year, a Costa Mesa-based developer was looking at building a large apartment complex on a 70-acre wedge of the property near Rancho California Road and Ridge Park Drive.

Honer said Ambient has plans to buy that wedge as well and develop it along with the rest of the land.

For many local residents, the undeveloped hillside to the west of Old Town is an amenity, and Honer said the company is well aware of that sentiment.